This is me standing inside of what remains of my grandma Rogelia’s house in Oaxaca. I didn’t get the chance to spend much time with her because it took me 30 years to be able to go back to Mexico. This is not a sad story, I promise. This is a story about how after so many years, so much distance, so much loss, so much grief, and so much shedding.. if we listen, we get the call. We hear the whisper of the land that birth us, the whispers of our ancestors, the whispers of the women with the magic who came before us. They call us to remind us of our power. They call us to heal. They call us to remember who we are. Powerful. Do you hear the call? I think about how different my perspective was before I went back. Incomplete. I think about all the me’s who died since I’ve been back. And I think about the me who is emerging. The ground may be shaking beneath our feet.. but I am reminded that in pain and challenge we can birth a new purpose and find our power. May we all find space to silence the noise and hear the whisper.
Official Trailer for El Regreso “A Dreamer Awakens” World Premiere at @danceswithfilms in Hollywood, CA June 26, 4:45 PM Tickets Linked in Bio
Music Composition- Wanderlust by @celinepaolini #elregresofilm #DWFLA #danceswithfilms #shortdocumentary
What is a dreamer without a dream? And what is a dream if it never becomes something real you can feel?
We wrapped our festival run in the UK this Saturday at @asffestival and we finally had our Hometown screening last week on Dia de Muertos in ATL at @resonant.studios where over 200 of you showed up to commune with the living… and the dead. We broke pan de Muertos together thanks to @talpasupermercados , drank cafecito from @cafexito.coffeeshop , honored our passed and living ones at our collective altars, got civically engaged with @poder_latinx & collected coats for @amigosdelacomunidad.georgia We engaged in dialogue about what this film stirred within you. Because this is not a story about one single individual, it is the story of many of us who live in between worlds, dimensions, spaces, and places. In this journey I’ve learned that even when we hear no’s, there is space for our stories and sometimes we have to be audacious enough to create them. And we have. This dream turned reality couldn’t have been possible without the true believers, the believers, the supporters, the creators and the doers. This was possible thanks to our phenomenal and brilliant team of @elregresofilm on both sides of the border and most of all to @bathrock who was the first to jump in head first to produce this film amongst so many other roles. I don’t yet know what’s next but I trust that El Regreso ‘s wings still have some miles to go and I’m excited to explore what’s next.
Thank you to all who’ve supported our flight. To @poder_latinx and all the volunteers who made this night so special. We fly because of you 🪶
And to our team who made this film 👏🏽✨
Written + Directed by @samramirezherrera
Produced by @bathrock
Cinematography by @dougs_pictures
Executive Producer @sarahastaire
Co-Producers
Conchita Taboada @spectrum.mexico@alexcullen_dp@a.s.barton@hemlymo@kentmatlock
Production Manager @marquelleyoung
Field Producer Fernando Delgado Iturbe 🇲🇽
Sound Recordist Hugo Noriega 🇲🇽
Editor @bathrock
Assistant Editors @adiol.paras@cesleodocu
Music Supervisor Eileen O’Neal + ACTIVE LISTENER
Post Sound Mixer @ravikash_the
Music Composition @ethandarla@celinepaolini
Lately I’ve been thinking about hope and hopelessness. How easy it is to slide or fall from one to the other. And how fucking important hope is now, more than ever. I went to San Diego and witnessed a magnificent sunset, found feather magic on the sand, and ate carne asada fries twice (paid for it with a tummy ache on the flight back 🤭). I was there to present my keynote The Art of Storytelling to San Diego County Office of Education, educators, facilitators, real-life superheroes. I’ve been reflecting on the power of stories, especially the ones we tell ourselves. Those stories shape our realities. They shape how we move through the world, what we accept, what we reach for, who we reach for, and how far we let ourselves fly. In a time where hopelessness and despair are trying to take hold, we must be audacious enough to reframe the narrative. We must continue to teach the kids to dream beyond the present moment, to reimagine new worlds for the future, to know that no matter where they come from, their stories don’t have to be told through scarcity or deficit, or through anyone else’s lens but their own. It’s no secret that the grown-ups are tired. The ones who’ve been fighting are worn out. But the kids don’t need us to pass that on. They need spaces and humans who nurture their imaginations, their wild dreams, their hope, their visions. A crumbling world is ripe for a new one to be born. In my own quest to tell myself a new story, this presentation marked the end of a meaningful chapter with CAMPUSPEAK, the agency that’s represented my talks for years. I’m deeply grateful for every stage, every audience, and every moment that helped me grow. Now, I’m giving myself permission to shapeshift, to spread my wings in new directions that transcend limitations and align with my highest potential. Because there are no borders for dreams, only horizons waiting to be crossed. Here’s to the storytellers, the teachers, and the dreamers, may we keep choosing hope, again and again.
After years of carrying this story across borders, El Regreso is finally coming home. On November 1, Día de Muertos, we will gather in Atlanta to honor our ancestors, to share the film, to be in conversation, and to dance together in celebration of life.
This city is where I found my voice as a filmmaker, and bringing the film here feels like returning to the source of my own becoming. I am grateful to be partnering with @poder_latinx and @resonant.studios to make this possible as part of their DocLights Series. 7-10pm
The evening will include: 🌻Día de Muertos altar + celebration 🍿Screening of El Regreso 🫀Talkback conversation 💃🏽Community and dancing until 10PM
Hope to see you there. Tickets link in bio.
Dress code: Festive Spirit 🕯️#elregresofilm #atlantascreening #dayofthedead #diademuertos
50/50! Oregon marked my 50th state. It’s a closing chapter in one of many cycles in my life right now. Feeling full of gratitude for this journey and for the gift that filmmaking and speaking have given me. I’ve had the chance to see so much of this country… to listen, to learn, and to share.
Between Oregon and Washington, I hugged trees. I watched forests kiss the ocean. I met birds, deer, mountains, and waterfalls along the way. Nature gave me its poetry, reminding me that endings are beginnings, and that every cycle carries its own beauty.
With a full and open heart I honor what’s finished and welcome what’s next. ✨🤸🏽🙏🏽💚 thank you Mother Earth for your healing power and love. #oregon #pacificcoast #mtrainier #cannonbeach #indianbeach #nature
Borders may divide land, but they cannot contain our stories. El Regreso’s wings carry it to York, UK as an official selection of @asffestival
Nov 5-9 2025
Grateful. Proud. Soaring. #asff2025 #elregresofilm #docshort
With each laurel, El Regreso has flown farther than I ever dreamed. This fall there’s still wind beneath us and our film is heading to @portlandfilm
Oct 1-5 2025
This film was born from rupture and resilience. My offering is my art. May it carry light for all of us navigating borders seen and unseen. #portlandfilm #pdx #elregresofilm
EC50 Class of 2025 by @felixkunze
So proud and grateful to be in company of these extraordinary, brilliant, and good looking explorers from around the globe 🌍
Looking forward to see all the projects and exploration for advancement that come from everyone and to share my own new projects soon. Thank you @the_explorers_club for a fabulous, exciting, eccentric, mind blowing ECAD. So much mental expansion and inspiration in one weekend. A special thank you to @swinarick for nominating me 🦋 #ec50 #explorersclub #ecad2025
We are thrilled to share that Seeds of Resilience: Bill Crumpler and Lelo Jones is nominated for the 2025 Southeast Emmy Awards under the Lifestyle- Short Form Content Category. Seeds of Resilience is a beautiful project we are lucky and grateful to have worked on with @foodwellalliance + @ofearthandheirloom that highlights the stories of Atlanta’s Urban Farmers who are changing, educating and inspiring their communities and beyond by planting seeds in the ground and in the minds of others. Congratulations to the whole team who worked on this creative vision and story.
Client: @foodwellalliance
Production Partner: @ofearthandheirloom@capturedbytabia
Talent: @lelo_jones@rootedfaithfarm
Director: @samramirezherrera
OTR producer: Lindsey Lee
Director of Photography: @dougs_pictures
AC: @she.shot
Gaffer: @benjiman.reel
Grip: @visualsbybruno
Audio: @raenak1234
Final Sound Mix: John St. Denis @adr.atlanta
Edit: @dionfivetimes
PA: @amanij.murph
#southeastemmys #sor #urbanfarmers #atlanta
El Regreso is screening tonight at Harvard University followed by a discussion with @amnestyharvard@harvardslam@conciliolatino At a time when migration is so often reduced to policy debates and headlines, El Regreso: A Dreamer Awakens centers the intimate, spiritual, and deeply human journey of returning to one’s homeland after decades in exile. As an “undocumented immigrant”,my story, like so many others, has been shaped by separation, longing, and resilience. This film is a homecoming of the soul, a reconnection with land, family, and memory. In a world reckoning with displacement, identity, and belonging, El Regreso invites us to see migration not just as movement, but as transformation. It’s a meditation on what it means to return, not just physically, but emotionally and ancestrally-and why reclaiming our stories is an urgent act of healing and resistance. #elregresofilm #immigration #mexicanfilmmaker #advanceparole #daca
Phoenix AZ Catch El Regreso today 3/31/2025 at 4:20pm or April 4 @ 9:20 AM at @harkinsscottsdale101 at the @phoenixfilmfestival Link in bio
Phoenix is such a special place for me since I grew up there. Grateful that this film continues flying and for all the notes and messages we receive about how seen so many feel through this story.
#phoenixfilmfestival #daca #indiefilm #immigration #advanceparole #cinemexicano
